2 PETER 1-3 BE DILIGENT2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Peter 1-3 Be Diligent

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014. We are here this evening looking at

1 Peter 1

which is written by Peter, the apostle, the disciple of Jesus, who was a fisherman and then was, you know, used by the Lord mightily as an apostle. He wrote this letter probably around 63 AD, and so about 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus, a little bit

after the book of Acts has concluded, and he writes it to God's elect or God's chosen people in the region of Asia Minor, and I'll show you where that is in just a moment. And his primary purpose is to encourage persecuted believers. There was some persecution that was happening. It was widespread, and so he wants to encourage them and help them understand what

what this kind of persecution and suffering means theologically, help them understand how it fits into God's plan and how they should respond to it. And so we'll be seeing that throughout our chapters this evening. Here's a quick look at the geography. Peter wrote to, he says, the dispersed pilgrims, those who because of persecution were spread out

And so you can see Jerusalem is in the bottom right there. And right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea is Caesarea. That's the region, of course, where the book of Acts primarily takes place. But then through the apostle Paul and Barnabas, you know, the gospel extends throughout the Roman Empire. And so now there's Jews that have...

been dispersed and spread out. And so they're in Asia. Now that's not the continent of Asia, but Asia Minor, Bithynia, Galatia, Pontus, and Cappadocia. This whole region here, there's a lot of believers there who are experiencing this persecution. And so Peter is writing to them to encourage them

and to help them understand what is going on. And so we're going to start now in chapter 1 of 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 is the key verse. He says, "...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Peter introduces himself in verses 1 and 2. He introduces himself as Peter. And again, he addresses it to the pilgrims of the dispersion. And so he lets us know who he's writing to. But then he goes on in this chapter to describe this awesome salvation that we have. And he's saying thanks to God or blessing God for this abundant mercy that he has demonstrated to us.

He says that he has begotten us again. And so a reference there to believers having been born again. And we have this living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not only that, but he goes on in verses 3 through 9 to say that God has begotten us to an incorruptible inheritance. It's undefiled. It's reserved in heaven for you. It's a guarantee. And so you have this promise of eternity.

And so as he writes to those who are suffering, to those who are being persecuted, right away he sets our eyes, he sets our focus on eternity. And that's a good place to start. Whenever we experience affliction, persecution, and difficulty in this life, we need to set our eyes on eternity and remember what God has in store for us.

Well, not only does he have this eternity in store for us, but as he talks about this awesome salvation, he also says in verses 10 through 12 that the prophets prophesied of the grace that would come to you.

And so he reminds them of what they already have in Christ. Not just what they have in store in the future, but you have a grace right now, he says, that, well, the Old Testament prophets spoke of these things and they didn't get to experience them, but they spoke of these things.

But they wanted to, but they ministered to us by speaking forth these things. And these things are so great, he says, angels desire to look into them. And so he's reminding these believers of what we have in Christ.

the value of our access to God, the value of the grace that we have received, the forgiveness that we have. And so as he writes to us about this awesome salvation, he says, think about what you have in the future and also remember what he has given to you already.

Then in verses 13 through 21, he tells them to rest your hope fully on grace, or the grace that will be revealed at the return of Jesus Christ. Verse 13 is an important verse. He says,

This idea of girding up, it was an idea that they understood because it applied to the tunics that they would wear. Wearing the tunic, they would not be free to run or have access to be able to work, and so it was restrictive. And so what they would do is they would take the back of the tunic, pull it through their legs and tuck it into their belt and essentially make a pair of shorts.

And then they would be able to run, they would have freedom of movement, and they would be able to do whatever they needed to do. And if we were to use a similar expression today, we might say something like, roll up the sleeves of your mind. It's like, get ready to work. Get ready to get into action, to get doing something. And here's what Peter is saying. This is our response to this awesome salvation. That is, we should get ready, prepare our minds,

To be sober and set our hope fully on the grace that is going to be revealed. This is our response to this amazing salvation. To be sober.

fully hoping, not hopefully as in the sense of like maybe it will happen, maybe it won't happen, but setting all of our hope and just completely putting our confidence and trust and expectation on the grace that Christ Jesus has for us to be consumed by that, to be captivated by that grace.

And then the second part of our response to this awesome salvation, in verse 15 he says, And so basically he says, look, clean up your mind, get rid of the junk, set your hope fully on that grace, and

And then the result is going to be holiness in your life. You're going to be living out obedience to God. You're going to be living out that obedience to what he has called us to and staying away from things that defile and doing the things that he has instructed us to do.

Well, then in verses 22 through 25, he goes on to encourage us to love one another fervently. Not only do we have this awesome grace and our response then is to live holy lives, but we also have to deal with one another. And how are we to deal with one another in light of persecution and affliction that we face, in light of the things that are to come and the grace that we have received?

He says we need to have a fervent love for one another. In verse 22, he says, since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit and sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.

heart. And he's going to be hitting this instruction again later on in the book, and so we'll talk about it more then. But we need to have this fervent love, a real genuine love for one another. And as we are in the midst of difficulty, as these are, this is something important for us, that we reach out and love one another, that we care for one another, that we help each other in the midst of it.

Well, going on now to chapter 2 of 1 Peter, we have verse 9 as the key verse. It says, In verses 1 through 3, he tells us to desire the pure milk of the word.

He tells us in verse 1, first of all, to lay aside some things like malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, evil speaking. These are things that we should not be doing, but instead, here's what we should do in verse 2, desire the pure milk of the Word. We look at the pure milk of the Word and see that as the simple reading and understanding of the Word of God.

And as believers, we never really outgrow this need for the milk of the word. We never outgrow the need for a simple reading and understanding of the word of God.

There's room for us, of course, to go deep, to study, as we talk about meat of the word, to chew on it, you know, and to really break down passages. But at the same time, that doesn't take away from our need for milk. You might remember in Hebrews chapter 5, we talked about this idea of milk versus meat in the word. And the author of Hebrews gave us a warning in Hebrews 5.13.

He says, everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. So infancy spiritually results from when we partake only of milk, when we only have the simple and basic understanding of the word of God. And so there's a danger for us to only partake of milk. We need to dig into the meat of the word and to have, you know, good understanding

a good understanding of these passages that we have in the scriptures. And that's why we spend time, you know, going through these in this way. But at the same time, we want to have balance. We need to have just a simple time where we read and we allow God to speak to us and we hear from him. Where we're not trying to defend the faith. We're not trying to come up with

you know, the best apologetics of how to defend this or that or how to refute this or that or how to, you know, be able to present this or teach that, but that we're simply receiving. And we need both aspects in our lives, the digging into the meat of the Word, but also we need a consistent regular time to just sit, to read,

to hear from God and allow Him to minister to our hearts. Growth comes by the simple reading of the Word of God. The understanding and applying of the Word of God is essential for us. Well, then in verses 4 through 10, He tells us, "...you are a chosen generation."

Now, Peter here, instead of using the picture of a body that we often see the Apostle Paul use, he uses the picture of a building. And so he says in verse 4 that we are coming to Jesus as to a living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious. And he says you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house.

a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And so like a body, you know, is one body but many members, he gives this picture of a building. It's one building, but many stones make up that building. And he's

making the point that we are members of the house. We are living stones, that Jesus also is a member of the house. He's the chief cornerstone. And so we are together, you know, the body of Christ. We are together the spiritual building that Peter is referring to. But then in verses, verse nine, he says, you are a chosen generation.

And so he reminds the people, he reminds you and I, that we are chosen by God, that we are a special generation, a priesthood, a holy nation, God's own special people. Now, this...

which previously, you know, would have specifically applied just to the Jewish believers. But we've seen as we've gone through the New Testament that there has been a change because of Christ. And the division between Jew and Gentile has been removed by Christ in that we come to God now by faith in Jesus Christ. And so all believers now are part of this chosen generation. It's not just the Jewish generation.

believers or the Jewish people, but it's believers in Jesus. And we're chosen by God, and we have this great place in His kingdom. We're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, we're His special people. Notice there in verse 9, "...that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

One of the things that we are chosen for is to proclaim His praise, to declare God's goodness and what He has done in our lives. Well, then in verses 11 and 12, He says that we are to have honorable conduct

among the Gentiles. And this begins a large portion of this letter that he's writing about how we're to behave among the Gentiles so that we are witnesses to the world around us. In verse 11, he says, Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

Then verse 12, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. And so here Peter says, behave yourself in such a way that even though they speak bad of you, that is the people in the world around you, even though they speak bad of you, when they stand before God, they'll be able to glorify God and say, you know what?

Harvey told me these things. Harvey demonstrated these things to me. I spoke evil of him before, but now I testify to you, God, that these things were set before me by those Christians that you placed in my life. And so he's calling us to live our lives in such a way

that there are those around us who become believers by our testimony, by the way that we live, by our conduct. Or if they reject that, that when they stand before God, they glorify God by declaring, you know what, I rejected it, but Richard was right there and he was showing me the way that we are to behave and that God is real and that this change has happened.

And so we are to conduct ourselves honorably, he says, as sojourners. Now a sojourner is someone who is a stranger or a foreigner. Someone who is in a place, but they don't have citizenship within that place. And that is a good description of us. We are in this world, but our citizenship is in heaven. And so we're to live as foreigners.

Even though we might be, you know, citizens of this nation, we are foreigners of this planet. We really belong in eternity with God. And so we're to live as foreigners. That is not to attach to the things of this life, not to tide to the things of, you know, this world around us, recognizing that these things are temporary. And so as foreigners, we

We ought to conduct ourselves in a certain way, honorably. And you can kind of think about it in the sense of if you are a foreigner, let's say you go on vacation to Europe or you go to, you know, Spain or Japan or to Mexico. And as a foreigner, you behave a little bit differently than you do, at least if you're a little bit wise, you do, right? You don't

you're a little bit more cautious. You don't know the laws of the land, you know, and you don't want to get in trouble. And so you're a little bit more cautious. You're a little bit more careful. And so you want to make sure that, you know, you don't offend and you don't get in trouble with the authorities.

In the same way, we are to conduct ourselves in a way that's honorable because we're not residents here. This isn't our home. Our citizenship is in heaven. And so how are we to do that? Well, again, he's going to talk about this the rest of this chapter and then on into chapter three about what this means, what this looks like in our lives. So verse 13 through 17, here's how we do it. First, we submit to every ordinance of man.

So the way that we conduct ourselves honorably as sojourners is we submit to authorities in this world. Political authorities, whatever kind of authorities that there are. So we're talking about presidents, we're talking about state authorities, police officers, judges, and whatever ordinances or laws that they establish, he says, as a believer, to conduct yourself honorably, submit to

to those laws. Now remember, as Peter is writing these things, he's addressing people who live in the Roman Empire.

It's the Roman Empire that's in power, and their kings are not good kings. They're not spiritual leaders. They're not, you know, in any way leading people to God or representing any kind of, you know, the morals of Christianity or anything like that. They're completely pagan. And yet Peter is able to say, Paul says,

Paul said something similar in Romans chapter 13. He said, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. And then he explains why. He says, for there is no authority except from God. And the authorities that exist are appointed by God. He goes on to say, so if you resist authority, you're resisting God. And so we are to submit to every ordinance of man.

We're to be obedient to those things that are established. Now, of course...

There is an exception to this, and that is when those authorities try to prevent us from doing what God has commanded us to do. Or when those authorities try to command us to do what God has forbidden for us to do. And so when there's a conflict between those authorities and God, then we must obey God first, and we have to be obedient to Him. And that's important. But

For the most part, you know, for us here in this nation, we don't have to worry about that so much currently. It may happen in the future and it looks that way. But in the meantime, pretty much generally speaking, we are to obey every ordinance of man. Think about it this way. What kind of impact could we have if all of us as Christians simply obeyed traffic laws?

What kind of impact do you think we could have? You know, people would talk. Have you ever noticed that Christians actually stop at stop signs? You know, at first I didn't realize and put it together, but I noticed, you know, they all have harvest bumper stickers and they all always stop at stop signs. It's really strange. You can imagine the cops talking together. You know, I can't remember the last time I pulled over a Christian. If we just did that simple thing,

we would have honorable conduct.

we would begin to be a witness in a way that would be unique. Now, some might say, well, that's why I don't put bumper stickers on my car so that I don't have to worry about my witness. Because of course, that's what Peter said, right? You know, you don't have to be a witness or be concerned about that as long as you don't have identifying marks. No, we are to be submitted to every ordinance of man. And as sojourners, as foreigners here, this is something that needs to take place in our lives.

Well, then in verses 18 through 25, he goes on again addressing the subject of how we're to behave as sojourners. And here's how he says, servants be submitted to your masters. Now, servants and masters were prevalent, were common throughout the Roman Empire. It was so common that we relate to this as the employee and employer relationship. It's the same type of setup in many ways. And so

As employees, we are to be submitted to our supervisors, to our bosses. That is what Peter is saying here. When your boss tells you what to do, understand that Jesus is telling you what to do. That's the way that Peter is saying to think about this, that we are to be obedient and submitted to those in authority over us within the workplace. If your boss is nice and you get along great,

be submissive to your boss. And if your boss is a jerk and treats you mean, well, then be submissive to your boss. Whether they're good masters or evil masters, whether they're cruel or gentle, he says we are to be submitted to them. And this is how we are to conduct ourselves since we are foreigners here. Our citizenship is in heaven.

Well, chapter 3 continues this point that Peter is making. Verse 14 is the key verse. He says, But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed, and do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.

In verses 1 through 6, Peter tells the wives to be submissive to their husband. He says in verse 1,

Notice he starts out saying, likewise. So wives, likewise. He's connecting this thought to the previous thoughts. So as foreigners, since we're sojourners here, we need to be submitted to every ordinance of man. We need to be submitted to our workplace authorities. And wives need to be submitted to their husband.

In the same way that we're to submit to the government, wives are to be submissive to their own husbands. In the same way that we're to be submissive to our employers, wives are to be submissive to their own husbands. Now, as always, I'll point out, this is not a statement of value or importance.

It's not that one gender is more important or valuable than the other. This is just the order that God has established. And so we need to follow that order because we're sojourners here. Now, Peter gives a special scenario. What if your husband is not a believer?

Well, he says the command is the same. Be submissive. And be submissive so that they, that is your husband, might be one. That is, they might become a believer by your conduct. Not by your words, not by what you say, not by your nagging, but by your conduct. By what you do, well, it causes them to desire to have what you have.

And so please God by submitting to your husband, he says to the wives, that they are to have a gentle and a quiet spirit. This is precious in God's sight. He loves and desires these things.

Well, then verse 7, he says, husbands dwell with understanding with your wife. Now again, in verse 7, he uses the word likewise. So he's connecting this all the way back to chapter 2, verse 11. As sojourners, since we're foreigners, we're to conduct ourselves in this way, submitting to the ordinances of men and

being submitted to our workplace authorities. Wives are to be submitted to their husbands and husbands likewise in the same way. And I would say it this way, the husband is called to submit as well, but it's just a different way than the wife. The wife submits by setting aside her own will. The husband submits because

By paying attention to the wife. He says dwell with understanding with your wife and give honor to her. And so the husband is to pay special attention to his wife. And it's a way for him to live as a sojourner. To live as a foreigner. To represent God and be a testimony of God to his wife and to the world around him.

Then in verses 8 through 12, he says, all of you be of one mind. And so now he moves on generally and say, okay, again, continuing as sojourners, let's all be together in this. We're all foreigners. So let's be of one mind. And that will cover a multitude of sins. I like the way that David Guzik puts it. He says, we could say that Christians are like a choir.

Each one sings with their own voice and some sing different parts, but everyone sings to the same music and in harmony with one another. We are to be of one mind, but that doesn't mean that, well...

We all have to think exactly the same. And we got to dress the same. We got to walk the same. We got to read the same version of the Bible. We have to believe identically on every, you know, minute detail of doctrine. That's not what he's saying. But to be of one mind, it means that, well, like a choir, we sing in unison. So we all have our various parts to play. We all have our various voices, but we come together as one. We come together as

united. And so that's what he's saying. Be of one mind. You're called to love and to serve others, even if they're not nice to you. And so let's come together and let's help each other make this happen. Let's work on this together. And then he goes on to quote from Psalm 34 in verse 10 and 11. And he says, look, hey, you want to have a great life? Here's how to do it.

He says, for he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. You want to have a really great life? Watch your mouth. You want to have a really great life? He says, let him turn away from evil and do good. So stop doing evil and start doing good. And then if you want to have a really great life, seek peace and pursue it.

And so in these three things, he says, you can have a great life. Watch your mouth, do good, and pursue peace. Verses 13 through 17, he says, you are blessed if you suffer for righteousness. Now, here he's going to start talking about suffering, and he's going to be talking about suffering in this part and then on into chapter 4. He says, you will suffer, but you have hope.

And again, a hope is not like, well, maybe it's going to happen, but he's talking about a confident expectation of eternity. And so in the midst of your suffering, remember the hope that you have, the confidence that you have in eternity. And in the midst of your suffering, in verse 15, he says, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

The idea here, again, as you conduct yourself as foreigners and you're suffering, but you have hope and people on the outside are looking in and saying, we don't understand. Why do you have hope? Why are you able to have joy? Why are you able to trust God in the midst of these things? And Peter says, you need to be ready at that time to give a defense or to give an answer.

I think that's important to understand. Sometimes we look at this verse, you know, to be ready to give a defense, and we kind of think of it like, well, I have to be ready to answer every objection, you know, that people might have to Jesus, or I have to be able to answer and refute, you know, every doctrine or every false religion. But that's not what Peter is saying. He says, no, conduct yourself as a foreigner, and in the midst of suffering, have hope because you have this confidence in eternity and

And that's going to look different. Christians suffer differently than unbelievers because we have this hope. We have this confidence in eternity. And so when people notice that, well, you suffer differently and you're experiencing it differently, then be ready because they're going to ask, how do you have this hope? How are you able to trust God in the midst of this? And so always be ready.

To give a defense. Why do you have hope? Why is it that you trust God in the midst of this? And he says, with meekness and fear.

With meekness, the idea is gentleness. So with gentleness, gentleness answer them. So as people ask, then you offer a gentle response. You don't beat them over the head. You know, you don't beat them up. You gently let them know, this is why I have hope. This is what God has done for me. This is the eternity that is in store for me.

Well, he concludes the thought here in verse 17 saying, So we can have this confidence. We can have this hope because if I'm doing the will of God, if I'm doing good and I'm suffering, well, that's better. Now, of course, if I'm doing wrong and suffering, then that's a different lesson, right? Then we need to repent and turn and get right with God. But

But for doing what's good, for doing what's right, for following God and his instructions, we will suffer. That's a guarantee of the Christian life. And when we do, it's good, it's better, and God promises blessing for us. And so we can have that confidence in eternity of the rewards and the promises that God has for us. Now in verses 18 through 22, he gives us Jesus as an example. He said, Christ suffered for us.

And so we are going to suffer also. He says in verse 18, "...for Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit."

And so look at the example of Christ, how he suffered and yet how God used that to accomplish good. He accomplished great things. In the same way, he's going to call us now in chapter 4 to arm ourselves with that same attitude. Let's look at chapter 4 now. Verse 1 is the key verse. He says, Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. For he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sinning.

sin. So as we look at the example of Christ and how God used suffering in his life, he says, arm yourselves with the same mind. He's preparing us for the suffering. He's preparing us for the battles that we will face. In verses 1 through 6, he says, arm yourself with the mind to suffer as Christ. Suffering hurts, of course, and God's not expecting us to pretend like life is not hard.

But God does require that we trust him with our lives. When things are outside of our control, we need to be able to rest and trust knowing that those things are in God's control. And so in the midst of that, we need to put on the mind of Christ and armor up

A lot of times for me anyways, my attitude in the midst of situations depends largely on the expectations that I had going into it. If I'm expecting it to be really difficult, then I'm not so grumpy when it's difficult. But if I'm expecting it to be easy and then it gets difficult, then I'm much more grumpy. And so that's what Peter's saying is you need to armor up. Set your expectations now. You're going to live the Christian life

And it's going to be hard. And there's going to be suffering. There's going to be spiritual battles. There's going to be people who come against you. There's going to be persecution. There is going to be difficulty. And God's going to use all of that to set you free from sin, to glorify his name. He's going to use that in your life for good. But prepare yourself.

And don't walk into this life thinking, hey, as a Christian, things are going to be awesome. I'm going to just get every wish that I ever want. Every prayer request is going to be answered and all things are going to be well all the time. No, prepare yourself to suffer and get ready for that. Armor up.

with that mind, with that mentality. Verse 3 is a classic verse. He says, The point Peter is making here is if you continued to walk in those things, you would fit in better. You would probably suffer less because the world would accept you because you're behaving like the world.

But we've spent enough time doing that, Peter says, doing the will of the Gentiles. We need to do the will of God. But as we do the will of God, we need to be prepared for the reality that that will include suffering. It will include suffering for you to walk with God and do his will.

Well, in the midst of the suffering, we're not to sit there and have a pity party. Instead, verses 7 through 11, he says, have fervent love for one another. He says, above all things, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.

We are to, in the midst of our suffering, as we prepare for this battle, these afflictions that we face, love one another. And again, he uses this idea of fervent love. It's an intensity. It's a passion. Not a casual love. I love, you know, kind of generally as I love all people, but to really love one another.

And that manifests itself. He talks about the importance of being hospitable, you know, meeting people's needs, but then also using your spiritual gifts. And so putting that love into action and doing, you know, the things that God has called you to do and gifted you to do. Notice what Peter is saying for us to do as we suffer. He doesn't say receive love.

Hey, I know you're suffering and things are really hard, so make sure you let people love you. That's not what Peter says. He says, you're suffering and things are really hard, so love people fervently. You give love because you're suffering. And because you're suffering, he doesn't say, so make sure that you accept hospitality and let people help you and let people invite you over for dinner and, you know, enjoy their company. He says instead, be hospitable.

A lot of times we're like, well, I can't do these things and I can't reach out and I can't pray for people or love on people because I'm suffering. And Peter says, exactly, you're suffering and that's why you need to love one another fervently and be hospitable. And he doesn't say, let other people's gifts bless you. He says, you bless others with your spiritual gifts.

Again, he's challenging us. He's saying, armor up, get ready, get ready for the battle. And as you suffer, here's what you do. Love fervently, be hospitable, and use your spiritual gifts. Then in verses 12 through 19, he says, you are blessed if you are reproached for the name of Christ. In verse 12, he says, to not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you.

Don't think it's strange whenever you have difficulty and persecution and affliction and trial. It's not strange. It's normal. We need to accept it as it's part of the normal Christian life. Now, this may be a little bit more difficult for you and I as believers here in our nation, in the United States, because we've been so blessed for so long with so much freedom.

But it's a lot easier for Christians around the world to recognize, yeah, there's fiery trials and believing in Christ comes at great cost. And we will be facing that more and more, it looks like, in our nation as well. And so we need to armor up. Now is the time to prepare ourselves and recognize when we go through fiery trials, when we go through great difficulty, it's not a strange thing. It is a normal part of the Christian life.

He says in verse 13, rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you also may be glad with exceeding joy. Notice what he says here. He basically says rejoice over the future, not the present. So he's not saying, you know, you have to enjoy the suffering. Again, you don't have to pretend like it doesn't hurt, but rejoice in what is to come.

you are participating in Christ's suffering as you suffer for his name, as you do what he's called you to do. And when he is revealed, you will be glad with exceeding joy. There will be great reward for those who have suffered in his name and for his name. Well, chapter 5 now says,

Verse 10 is the key verse. He says, In verses 1 through 4, he speaks to the elders within the churches. He says, He says,

I think there's some important things to point out here in these passages. Number one, he says, shepherd the flock which is among you, reminding shepherds that shepherds are sheep too. Often we refer to shepherds as under shepherds to help us remember Christ is the chief shepherd.

We're all sheep, but he has called some of the sheep to shepherd others. You can think about it this way. It's like a parent who leaves one of their kids in charge at home.

They're still all the kids, right? And the parent is the parent. But some of the kids have been given this charge and this authority. And in the same way, shepherds are sheep, which means they're going to make mistakes. They're going to have the same frailties as all the other sheep, but they've been given this authority and this charge to shepherd other sheep.

But he also says that these shepherds are to oversee, that is to look after, to care for, to pay attention to and consider the sheep that have been entrusted to them. He says that they ought to do this willingly, not being forced, not as some dreadful obligation, but to volunteer.

Like I'll take on the responsibility willingly to shepherd the flock of God and eagerly and not greedily. So not for some personal profit or gain. Shepherds can't be in it for their own profit or for money. But instead there needs to be this readiness, this promptness, this eagerness to serve and to minister to the other sheep. And then he also says that the shepherds are to be examples and not lords.

No shepherd has the authority to override what God has said. Every sheep has its own connection to the Lord. And God doesn't delegate that and say, okay, you can't talk to me. You got to talk to Harvey. Harvey's going to talk to me. I'll talk to Harvey. Harvey will talk to you. You know, you got to take it all through Harvey. God doesn't delegate that. He says, every one of you, you connect with me directly.

But also to help you, I've placed these other shepherds in your life to help guide you and direct you and protect you. And primarily to be an example for you of how you're to live. And so shepherds are to be examples, not lords. And so it's not about, you know, making laws or forcing people to do things. But as a shepherd, as a leader within the body of Christ, you are called to

to model what it means to live the Christian life, to suffer in the way that we're called to suffer, to be sojourners in the way that we're called to be sojourners, and so on and so forth. Well, then he tells us in verses 5 through 11, he talks to the younger people and he says, you should submit to your elders. And so you should be obedient to those that God has placed over you in authority. Be submitted to them. Spiritual leaders cannot demand. They're not the Lord. But

as sheep, we are to willingly choose to submit to those in authority over us. They can't force it, but we are to choose it and choose to be submitted to them. He goes on to say, you also, or all of you, be submissive to one another. And so it's not a one-sided thing, but again, shepherds are sheep too. And so

The younger are to be submitted to the elders, but then at the same time, we're to be submitted to one another. And there's this balance here. There is authority. It is real. It must be honored and respected. And yet we're also all sinners saved by grace. We're all works in progress. And so there needs to be this mutual submission to one another as God uses each other in our lives to draw us near to him and make us more like him.

He tells us in verse 7 to cast our cares upon God because he cares for us. And then in verse 9 and 10, he warns us to watch out for the devil because the devil is like a lion seeking whom he may devour. And so we're to resist him and be steadfast in the faith. Well, then he concludes the book in verses 12 through 14. He says, greet one another with a kiss of love. Again, we're to love one another fervently in the midst of these things.

Well, now 2 Peter. This also is written by Peter probably a couple years later. He doesn't address it to a specific region. He just says those who have obtained like precious faith.

And here in this shorter book, he encourages Christians to grow. He refutes false teaching and he reminds the believers to be ready for the return of Jesus. And so let's go through now chapter 1 verse 3 is the key verse. It says, "...as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue."

In verses 1 through 4, again, we have the introduction. Peter introduces himself. He says, this is to those who obtained like precious faith. And verse 3 is a really important verse. It tells us here that there's nothing that you need for life or for godliness that God has not given you by knowing him.

And so the first and foremost pursuit of our lives needs to be knowing God. And as we seek to know God and walk with Him,

He provides for us everything that we need for life and for godliness. And so you need wisdom as a parent. You need help meeting the financial demands. You need help living a walk of integrity and being above reproach and walking upright and fleeing from temptation. Whatever it happens to be, things of God or things of this life that you've been called to,

Your walk with God is what enables you and equips you to be able to do those things. In verses 5 through 11, he says, be diligent to add to your faith. Diligence is the opposite of laziness. And I would encourage you to consider which word better describes your relationship with God. Diligence or laziness. He challenges us to be diligently growing, to be diligently adding to our faith.

diligently allowing God to influence us and change us. And he gives a list of some of the things that we are to grow in. That's virtue or moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness. He says in verse 8,

He says in verse 10 and 11, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble. And so there's this pushing forward to grow, to know God, to add to our faith, to increase in our likeness of God. And he says in verse 11, if you do that, there's going to be an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom for you.

And so obtain that abundant entrance. Don't just, you know, get the skin of the teeth award as you enter into heaven, but have an abundant entrance as you push forward to increase in your faith, to increase in your walk with God, to grow and develop in your relationship with him.

In verses 12 through 15, he says, I will not be negligent to remind you. And a few times he says in these verses, I'm going to remind you and you need to be reminded. And it's right for me to remind you. We need these reminders. A lot of times we think we need something new, but a lot of times it's not new information that we need.

It's a reminder of things that we've already known but haven't been practicing and failed to apply. It's not information but application that we need. And so he says, look, we need to be reminded. It's right for me to remind you of these things. And I'm going to make sure that after I'm gone, you still have reminders of these things. Be diligent to grow. Be diligent to walk with God.

In verses 16 through 21, he says, we have the prophetic word confirmed. Here he says, look, we didn't follow made-up myths or fables. The Roman culture that they were in, there was an abundance of myths. All kinds of gods of this and gods of that. All these creations of imagination of these different gods and goddesses that people believed in. And Peter is saying,

We didn't follow anything like that, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We heard his voice or the voice that came down from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. And he's talking about the Mount of Transfiguration where Peter, James, and John saw Jesus transfigured before them and heard the voice of God say, this is my beloved son, listen to him.

He says not only that, but in verse 19, we have the prophetic word confirmed. So we were eyewitnesses, but we also have the fulfillment of the prophecies that were accomplished in Jesus. And that's even more sure. These are confirmed that these things have taken place and they prove these fulfilled prophecies were

prove that what we believe is genuine, that Christianity, that Jesus Christ really is the Messiah, the Savior, and the only way to the Father. Well, chapter 2 now, verse 9 is the key verse.

He says, Now he's going to be dealing with the subject of false teachers here in this chapter. In verses 1 through 3, he says, We saw that as we went through the Old Testament.

Even though there was prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel, there were false prophets as well, speaking a different message than what God was speaking.

And Peter says in the same way, don't be surprised. Be ready for false teachers to be among us. He's not warning the people against other religions. He's saying amongst the church and from within, you know, the name of Christ, there will be false teachers. Not only do they exist in verse 2, he says, but many will follow them.

And so we can understand that popularity is not a good measurement for whether or not something is true because many people will follow false teachers. And God says, or Peter says, God's going to deal with them. Sometimes we wonder, why doesn't God judge, you know, the false teachers? Why does he allow them to continue to deceive and to continue in their ways to

But he tells us, no, there are going to be consequences for their doctrines and for their deceptions. And he gives a few examples in verses 4 through 11. He says, He gives three examples here to help us understand God's able to handle this.

It's not up to us. We don't have to worry about the false teachers in the sense like it's up to us to knock them down. He says, look, God's got this. And he gives three examples. He says, first of all, think about the angels who sinned and they're reserved in chains of darkness. And so angels who rebelled against God that are now in chains, God was able to deal with them as they rebelled against him. Another example, he says in verse five, is think about the ancient world that was flooded with,

But in the midst of that, God preserved Noah. And so God was able to deal with the ancient world. And he did so by using a flood. But at the same time, he spared the righteous. The third example he gives was that of Sodom and Gomorrah. There is God rained down fire and brimstone on this people that were rebellious against God, but at the same time spared Lot, who Peter calls a righteous man.

Now, as he gives these three examples, then he goes on to verse 9. He says, look, if these things are true, then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. Here's what he's saying. There are these false teachers. They deserve judgment. But don't be distressed about, you know, if you don't see their judgment immediately or right away.

He says, understand, God knows how to preserve the righteous. Those who are right with God, he's going to keep them safe. And he is going to deal with those unrighteous, those false teachers. In verses 12 through 17, he says, the false teachers will perish in their own corruption. He calls them accursed. That is, they've received a sentence of divine judgment. They will be judged. They will not escape.

He says in verses 18 through 22, it would have been better for them to have not known the way of righteousness, but they've known the truth and then they've led people astray. And so Peter says that God's judgment upon them will be severe.

Well, chapter 3 now, the final chapter of the evening, verse 9, he says, And verses 1 through 7, Peter says that scoffers will come in the last days. There's going to be people who come on the scene and say, hey,

You guys have been talking about the return of Jesus Christ for a really long time, and it's not happening. Everything is continuing on as it always has. And so why should we believe? We don't need to be concerned about this promise of the return of Jesus. But Peter explains that scoffers willfully forget. They make a deliberate choice. They forget about creation and

They forget about the judgments that God has poured out upon the earth previously. They willfully forget. They make this conscious choice to forget what God has done, much like the false teachers. They know the truth, but they're setting those things aside and scoffing instead. In verse 8 and 9, he says, "...the Lord is not slack in his promises."

He's not slow in fulfilling his promises. The delay of Jesus' return is not because he's kind of lazy or maybe he's going to get around to it one day. But the delay is because, well, he is not willing that any should perish. And he wants people to come to repentance. And if he would have come, you know, five years ago,

then there would be many who would not have been part of his kingdom. But he's waited five more years, at least. And many more have turned to him and are going to be part of his kingdom. And we don't know how long he's going to wait. His patience is longer than we expect. But it's because he desires for people to come to repentance. It will be fulfilled in his time. He's not slack. He's not lazy. It's going to happen according to his plan.

Well, then in verses 10 through 13, he tells us that the heavens will pass away with a great noise. He says this is going to come like a thief. It's going to come as a surprise. The heavens will pass away. The elements will melt with fervent heat. He's looking forward to the end of all things. And he says, since we know this, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?

And so he calls our attention to the future as Jesus is going to return. It's going to happen. And when he returns, he's going to make all things new. This world, this life is going to come to an end. And since you know that, he says, how should we behave?

Well, we should be holy. We should be godly. Verse 14 through 18, he says, we should be diligent to be found without spot. Verse 14 says, therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless. He's going to come back as a thief.

And how is he going to find you? Well, Peter says, be diligent. Again, it's this intentional desire. It's intentional passion on our part to grow and to walk with the Lord. And if we're diligent, then we're going to be found by him in peace. And we're going to be found by him without spot and be found blameless. Or will we be caught off guard?

and be found in sin, and be found in rebellion, and be found lazy in our relationship with God. He's going to come at a time that we do not expect. And so he says, do your best, be diligent to be found ready, to be found trusting God, to be found believing and having your conduct as sojourners, doing what God has called you to do. He concludes the book saying, grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

And so we're looking forward to the future, but as long as we're here in the present, the command is to grow. Grow in his grace. Be diligent to draw near to him and walk with him. Let's pray. God, as we consider these things, the things that are to come, the false teachers that are present, Lord, the difficulties that we face and the suffering that we experience, I pray that you would help us in the midst of all of that.

to be diligent, to draw near to you, to walk with you, to know you, to hear from you, to increase in our faith, to

grow in our reading and understanding of your word, to grow in our service to you and to one another. I pray that you would help us to really lean in and push forward in the things that you've called us to. Fill us, Lord, with your Holy Spirit that we might be sojourners as you've called us to be, great witnesses as foreigners here in this life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.